Reading the Hunger Games
by PhoenixAngel47
Summary: Katniss, Prim, Gale, Cinna, Effie, Haymitch, Johanna, and Finnick are all brought to a strange room by a strange girl. She gives them three books, saying they can't leave until they've been read. "I brought you here to read something very important: your future. It's very dark and very sad..."
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

**I'm having writer's block on my other fic, **_**Strike Team: Omega**_**, so I decided to put this up. I had started this a while ago, and it's been on my computer ever since.**

"**Cara" is a Book Traveler. Book Travelers have special powers: Telepathy, Time, Transportation, Transformation, and Telekinesis. They are given a type of "wand" and a Book Traveler's knapsack, which includes various things. Under no circumstance are Book Travelers supposed to tell their real names.**

**Book Travelers are given assignments. They are given a book series or book and must have the characters of said book read their futures. They are taken to a room, and time is frozen in their world.**

**This is the first installment of a series, all focusing around "Cara" and her various assignments. In each fic she will have a different name, just warning you.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of the characters. Suzanne Collins does. I only own "Cara," her handler, Will, and the idea of Book Travelers.**

**Chapter 1**

There was a bright flash of silver light. When it cleared, there were nine people sitting on silver colored couches. They looked around in confusion. The room had silver walls and thick silver carpet. In the corner there was a silver tree growing straight out of the carpet.

"Where are we?" asked a surly man. He was paunchy and shaggy-looking.

"Somewhere safe," a young girl's voice said. All heads turned toward the unfamiliar voice. In a large, silver armchair there was a girl. She had smooth, tan skin and long, dark hair mixed with dark blue streaks. She was wearing a shiny silver top that stopped just below her breasts, showing her flat, toned stomach and a pair of stretchy, shiny silver pants that cut off a few inches above her ankles. She didn't have any shoes on. Beside her chair was a silver knapsack.

"And who are you, might I ask?" asked a very colorful woman in a squeaky voice.

"Well, Ms. Trinket, my name is Cara," the girl replied. She moved her piercing blue-and-silver-flecked gaze over everybody.

"Here in this room we have Effie Trinket and Cinna from the lovely Capitol, Finnick Odair from District Four, Johanna Mason from District Seven, Haymitch Abernathy, Gale Hawthorn, Peeta Mellark, Primrose Everdeen, and Katniss Everdeen from District Twelve," Cara added, nodding to each person in turn.

"Where's the alcohol?" Haymitch asked bluntly. Effie frowned disapprovingly. Cara shot the man a look.

"I have brought you here to read something very important: your future. It is very dark, very sad. No one may leave until we have read all three books," she announced.

"Who's going to stop us from leaving?" Johanna challenged. Cara didn't seem offended. She simply swept her hand around.

"You're welcome to try," she offered. The room had no doors or windows. Johanna piped down, looking ruffled. Cara nodded satisfactorily.

"Now that that's settled, who would like to start us off?" she held up a paperback book. Finnick volunteered, and Cara passed it to him. When he lifted it up, everyone could see the boldly printed title: _The Hunger Games_.

"The Hunger Games," he began. Suddenly, Johanna broke in again.

"How do we know the Capitol isn't listening?" the atmosphere thickened at the thought. Cara shook her head.

"Not possible. The Capitol doesn't know about this place. Continue, please, Finnick," she nodded her head at the blond man.

**" Part One: "The Tributes," Chapter One. When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth, but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress."**Katniss shared a look with her sister. This had happened many times before, but Cara had said that this was the future.

**"She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. Today is the day of the reaping.**

** I prop myself up on one elbow. There's enough light in the bedroom to see them. My little sister, Prim, curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother's body, their cheeks pressed together."**Several glances were shot at the little blond-haired, blue-eyed girl. She hid her face in Katniss's shoulder.

**"In sleep, my mother looks younger, still worn but not so beaten-down. Prim's face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named." **Prim grinned up at her sister, who returned the favor. Gale ruffled the little girl's hair.

"Catnip is right you know, Prim," he said. Katniss rolled her eyes at Gale's silly nickname for her whilst the others looked on in confusion at it. Cara nodded at Finnick for him to continue reading.

**"My mother was very beautiful once, too. Or so they tell me. Sitting at Prim's knees, guarding her, is the world's ugliest cat—"**

__"That's not a very nice thing to say, Katniss, dear," Effie said, cutting off Finnick very rudely. Prim nodded in agreement.

"Sorry," Katniss said, not sounding very sorry at all. Haymitch grumbled something about wanting a drink.

**"—Mashed in nose, half of one ear missing, eyes the color of rotting squash. Prim named him Buttercup, insisting that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower. He hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I still think he remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home." **Haymitch snorted.

"Well, I'd hate you to if you tried to drown _me _in a bucket," Johanna said. Finnick nudged her.

"Johanna, you'd hate anyone if they so much as _looked _at you," he said. Haymitch nodded in agreement. Johanna glared at him.

"Shut up, you old sot," she snapped at the District Twelve mentor. The spiteful mentor from Seven turned on Finnick, who was laughing too. "You too, Fish Brains. Read." Finnick turned back to the book, still smiling a little.

**"Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms, crawling with fleas."**Effie wrinkled her nose at the vugular description.

**"The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It turned out okay. My mother got rid of the vermin and he's a born mouser. Even catches the occasional rat."**Prim smiled proudly at the good mentions of her little kitty cat. Effie was a bit miffed about the cat eating mice and rats, but she smiled a little too.

**"Sometimes, when I clean a kill—"**Kill? Finnick, Johanna, Effie, and Cinna thought. **"—I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me.**

** Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love."**Cara smiled. If only Katniss knew, she thought.

**"I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots. Supple leather that has molded to my feet. I pull on trousers, a shirt, tuck my long braid up into a cap, and grab my forage bag."**Katniss thought back to the many mornings when she would do this. Gale did, too.

**"On the table, under a wooden bowl to protect it from hungry rats and cats alike, sits a perfect little goat cheese wrapped in basil leaves. Prim's gift to me on reaping day. I put the cheese carefully in my pocket as I slip outside."**Finnick paused to clear his throat, then looked at the silver-clad girl.

"Is there anything that I can drink?" Cara reached into her knapsack and pulled out something long, thin, and silver. She gracefully rose and stepped behind the armchair she had been sitting in, blocking her from sight. When she returned, she swiftly slipped the silver object back into her bag and handed the glass of water to Finnick.

"Can I get a drink?" Haymitch asked. Cara shook her head at the old drunk man.

"No alcoholic beverages," She said. Haymitch grumbled, and Cara could've sworn she heard some pretty strong profanity. Finnick looked around for somewhere to put his glass. Cara sighed, grabbed the silver object, and went back behind the chair. Suddenly, she re-emerged with a silver colored wooden stand. She placed it beside Finnick, put the silver thing away, and sat back down. No one dared to ask what the silver object was. Instead, Finnick continued to read.

**"Our part of District 12, nicknamed the Seam, is usually crawling with coal miners heading out to the morning shift at this hour. Men and women with hunched shoulders, swollen knuckles, many who have long since stopped trying to scrub the coal dust out of their broken nails, the lines of their sunken faces."**Effie wrinkled her nose. She knew that District 12 was very gritty and rough, but she didn't understand why the people here were so gloomy.

**"But today the black cinder streets are empty. Shutters on the squat gray houses are closed. The reaping isn't until two. May as well sleep in—" **

"If you can," Johanna butted in bitterly. Finnick and Haymitch shot her nervous glances. Effie looked confused. Why wouldn't they be able to sleep? Excitement?

**"—If you can."**Katniss shot Johanna a curious glance. Maybe they weren't so different. Cara observed this, listening to Katniss's thoughts. She smirked. If only, Katniss. If only.

**"Our house is almost at the edge of the Seam. I only have to pass a few gates to reach the scruffy field called the Meadow. Separating the Meadow from the woods, in fact enclosing all of District 12, is a high chain-link fence topped with barbed-wire loops."**Peeta and Gale had been too quiet for Cara's liking. She eavesdropped in on their thoughts. They were both contemplating their feelings for the dark-haired, fiery-tempered Everdeen girl. She then turned her attention to Cinna. He was quietly observing the group, as he often did, in his designer's eye.

**"In theory, it's supposed to be electrified twenty-four hours a day as a deterrent to the predators that live in the woods — packs of wild dogs, lone cougars, bears — that used to threaten our streets."**Effie shuddered at the thought of those horrible creatures terrorizing even such lowly people as those in District 12.

**"But since we're lucky to get two or three hours of electricity in the evenings, it's usually safe to touch. Even so, I always take a moment to listen for the hum that means the fence is live. Right now, it's silent as a stone."**Those not from District 12 were casting curious glances at Katniss. They were surprised that she hadn't been caught already. In fact, they were surprised that she could've even started leaving the district in the first place.

**"Concealed by a clump of bushes, I flatten out on my belly and slide under a two-foot stretch that's been loose for years. There are several other weak spots in the fence, but this one is so close to home I almost always enter the woods here."**Effie looked shocked. How had so many weak spots gone unnoticed for such a long time? She would have to inform somebody. Cara, hearing the woman's thoughts, frowned. Then she sighed, quietly. What did it matter?

**"As soon as I'm in the trees, I retrieve a bow and a sheath of arrows from a hollow log—"**Finnick cut himself off, staring at the girl in shock. She seemed like a fighter before, but she can use a weapon, too? Cara laughed out loud. Everybody turned to look at hear. She waved them away.

**"— Electrified or not, the fence has been successful at keeping the flesh-eaters out of District 12. Inside the woods they roam freely, and there are added concerns like venomous snakes, rabid animals, and no real paths to follow. But there's also food if you know how to find it. My father knew and he taught me some before he was blown to bits in a mine explosion. There was nothing even to bury. I was eleven then. Five years later, I still wake up screaming for him to run."**By then, most of the group was looking at Katniss with pity. There were a few exceptions; Johanna, for one, along with Prim and Gale. Katniss glared at the floor. It wasn't like she _wanted _all these people to know about one of the worst moments in her life. Cara cleared her throat, sensing Katniss's discomfort.

**"Even though trespassing in the woods is illegal and poaching carried the severest of penalties, more people would risk it if they had weapons. But most are not bold enough to venture out with just a knife."**Johanna snorted. What sissies, she thought. Even though Cara agreed with her, she knew why the people of 12 didn't risk their lives. Why die where no one will find your body when you can die at the same risk inside?

**"My bow is a rarity, crafted by my father along with a few others that I keep well hidden in the woods, carefully wrapped in waterproof covers."**Finnick nodded approvingly. The girl was tough and smart. She obviously was going into the Games; maybe she'd make it. Maybe.

**"My father could've made good money selling them, but if the officials found out he would have been publicly executed for inciting a rebellion."**Haymitch frowned. Of course he would have been.

**"Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt because they're as hungry for fresh meat as anybody is. In fact, they're among our best customers."**

Effie gasped. "Oh, my! That's against the law!" Haymitch, Johanna, and almost everybody rolled their eyes at the ridiculous Capitol woman. However, the poor lady looked absolutely distraught. Cara stood up and gently led the woman to a bare wall, where she placed her hand. A rectangle large enough for the two to walk through appeared. Cara lead Effie inside and the wall closed. Everybody else looked on in shock. Meanwhile, in a different room, Cara sat Effie down in a chair.

"Effie, you are understandably upset, but I need you to calm down. What will be coming will be a whole lot worse than some silly Peacekeepers letting some people hunt to survive. District Twelve is very poor. They have next to nothing at all to eat. They can't rely on three meals a day, let alone even one," she soothed the Capitol woman. Her voice was gentle yet firm. Effie seemed to calm down.

"I'm so very sorry," she twittered. "How rude of me it was to interrupt." Cara smiled and helped the woman to her feet.

"It's quite alright, Effie," she said. The two walked back into the other room to find the others in pretty much the same position. Effie took her seat and Cara took hers. Finnick took another sip of water.

**"But the idea that someone might be arming the Seam would never have been allowed.**

** In the fall, a few brave souls sneak into the woods to harvest apples. But always in sight of the Meadow. Always close enough to run back to the safety of District 12 if trouble arises. "District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety," I mutter."**Johanna laughed. Finnick and Haymitch joined in, while Katniss and Gale gave halfhearted chuckles.

**"Then I glance quickly over my shoulder. Even here, in the middle of the woods, you worry someone might overhear you.**

** When I was younger, I used to scare my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol."**Johanna smiled one of her rare, half-smiles. Maybe the kid wasn't too bad, she thought.

**"Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more trouble. So I learned to hold my tongue and turn my features into an indifferent mask so that no one could read my thoughts."** Peeta glanced at Katniss to see her face like this now. He frowned. He wondered what she could've said that was so dangerous. In all the years he'd watched her, she always seemed so serious and quiet.

Cara read his thoughts. She shook her head and glared at him. Cara never did like Peeta or Gale very much. She turned her fierce gaze on Gale. He, sensing someone watching him, turned to find the culprit. He raised his eyebrows at the silver-clad girl. He concluded that Cara didn't seem to like him. Cara smirked at his thoughts as he turned back toward Finnick. Gale was smarter than she'd thought, apparently.

**"Do my work quietly in school. Make only polite small talk in the public market. Discuss little more than trades at the Hob, which is the black market where I make most of my money. Even at home, where I am less pleasant—"**

"Wait, that's you being less pleasant?" Prim asked, shooting Finnick an apologetic look for interrupting. Katniss shrugged, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Prim, now isn't the time," Cara said gently. Prim looked toward the older girl. She seemed really nice.

**"—I avoid discussing tricky topics. Like the reapings, or food shortages, or the Hunger Games. Prim might begin to repeat my words and then where would we be?"**

"Katniss, I'm not a child," Prim protested softly. Katniss looked at her younger sister. She opened her mouth, about to protest, but Cara cut her off.

"Katniss, she's only two years younger than me. She's not a child anymore," Katniss looked at the silver-clad girl and said nothing. Instead, she wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders.

**"In the woods waits the only person with whom I can be myself. Gale." **Gale smiled a little. Peeta frowned.

**"I can feel the muscles in my face relaxing, my pace quickening as I climb the hills to our place, a rock ledge overlooking a valley. A thicket of berry bushes protects it from unwanted eyes."**Finnick looked up at Cara.

"I would like to see that. Would there be any possible way…?" Cara sighed. It would be easy to conjure up something to show it to them, but not without scaring them. Will had warned her that the first assignment was always the worst.

_Will, what do I do? _She asked through telepathy. She waited anxiously for her handler's reply.

_Calm down, _his soothing voice sounded in her head. _Remember the second T._ Cara smiled. Of course. She looked at the others, who were looking at her expectantly.

"Give me a second," was all she said. She closed her eyes, concentrated, lifted her right hand, pulled her elbow back, and thrusted it forward. She felt a burst of energy surge through her body, down her arm, and through her outstretched palm. When she opened her eyes, everything was frozen. She smiled and pulled out her wand. She drew up one of the Capitol's high-tech invisible screens with it. Once she put it away, she slowly breathed out and released the room from the time freeze. She began pulling up the image of Katniss and Gale's overlook. She zoomed in on it and showed the others.

"Wait, the Capitol can see this?" Katniss asked, looking alarmed. Cara shook her head.

"Capitol tech, my camera," she said. She shut down the screen and moved it to the side. With that over with, Finnick cleared his throat and began reading.

**"The sight of him waiting there brings on a smile. Gale says I never smile except in the woods.**

** "Hey, Catnip," says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So he thought I'd said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official nickname for me."**Katniss snorted.

"I still hate that nickname, Gale," she said. Gale grinned at her. Peeta looked back and forth between the two hunting partners, a small frown on his face. Cara shook her head at him.

**"I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. I almost regretted it because he wasn't bad company. But I got a decent price for his pelt.**

"**Look what I shot." Gale holds up a loaf of bread with an arrow stuck through it, and I laugh."** Effie had been quiet for a while. Cara observed the Capitol woman, who still looked quite shaken from the news of the District 12 Peacekeepers.

"**It's real bakery bread, not the flat, dense loaves we make from our grain rations."**Prim's stomach growled, thinking about food. Cara heard it and smiled.

"**I take it in my hands, pull out the arrow, and hold the puncture in the crust to my nose, inhaling the fragrance that makes my mouth flood with saliva. Fine bread like this is for special occasions.**

"**Mm, still warm," I say."** At this point, Gale, Katniss, and Prim were dreaming about food. Cara made a swift decision. After this chapter, she would make food.

"**He must have been at the bakery at the crack of dawn to trade for it. "What did it cost you?"**

"**Just a squirrel. Think the old man was feeling sentimental this morning," says Gale."**Katniss shot a questioning glance at Peeta, who shrugged.

"Doesn't really matter," he said, speaking for the first time since arriving in this strange room

"**Well we all feel a little closer today, don't we?" I say, not even bothering to roll my eyes. "Prim left us a cheese." I pull it out.**

**His expression brightens at the treat. "Thank you, Prim. We'll have a real feast."**Prim smiled up at the eighteen-year-old.

"You're welcome, Gale," she said sweetly. Gale smiled back at the little blond-haired, blue-eyed girl. Effie was baffled, wondering how a loaf of bread and a little tiny cheese could be considered a feast.

"**Suddenly he falls into a Capitol accent as he mimics Effie Trinket, the maniacally upbeat woman who arrives once a year to read out the names at the reaping."**Effie frowned at her description, but said nothing, surprising Haymitch.

"**I almost forgot! Happy Hunger Games!" He plucks a few blackberries from the bushes around us. "And may the odds —" He tosses a berry in a high arc toward me.**

**I catch it in my mouth and break the delicate skin with my teeth. The sweet tartness explodes across my tongue. "— be ever in your favor!" I finish with equal verve. We have to joke about it because the alternative is to be scared out of your wits. Besides, the Capitol accent is so affected, almost anything sounds funny in it."**

At that, Effie burst out, "I don't have an accent! It is very rude to say so, Katniss." Katniss and Gale exchanged a glance. Cinna, who everyone had all but forgotten was there, spoke up.

"We do," he said, his voice quiet, "to Katniss, and everyone else not from the Capitol." Effie frowned, but allowed Finnick to carry on reading.

"**I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the bread. He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even the same gray eyes. But we're not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work in the mines resemble one another this way.**

**That's why my mother and Prim, with their light hair and blue eyes, always look out of place. They are."**Prim turned to her sister with her delicate eyebrows raised, obviously asking '_oh really?'_. Katniss returned the look, only her expression said, _'are you going to argue?'_. Gale, Peeta, and Cara watched in amusement, as the others went on, completely oblivious to the exchange.

"**My mother's parents were part of the small merchant class that caters to officials, Peacekeepers, and the occasional Seam customer. They ran the apothecary shop in the nicer part of District 12. Since no one can afford doctors, apothecaries are our healers. My father got to know my mother because on his hunts he would sometimes collect medicinal herbs and sell them to her shop to be brewed into remedies."**Katniss felt a sad smile on her face at the mention of her mother's past.

"**She must have really loved him to leave her home for the Seam. I try to remember that when all I can see is the woman who sat by, blank and unreachable, while her children turned to skin and bones. I try to forgive her for my father's sake. But to be honest, I'm not the forgiving type."**Haymitch, sullen and glaring, but still listening, filed away the information. It was a good asset in the Games, and he knew that the Sweetheart hugging the little Blondie would be going in.

"**Gale spreads the bread slices with the soft goat cheese, carefully placing a basil leaf on each while I strip the bushes of their berries."**Prim's stomach growled again, more loudly at the mention of the food. Cara stood up, grabbed the silver object, and walked behind her chair again. When she emerged, she set a couple platters of food on the glass coffee table. With a slight nod, Prim tasted one of the snacks. Cara doubted she'd ever heard of them. Finnick glanced at her in surprise, but continued to read anyway.

"**We settle back in a nook in the rocks. From this place, we are invisible but have a clear view of the valley, which is teeming with summer life, greens to gather, roots to dig, fish iridescent in the sunlight."**Johanna pondered what she just heard. It seemed very much like the forests back in District 7.

"**The day is glorious, with a blue sky and soft breeze. The food's wonderful, with the cheese seeping into the warm bread and the berries bursting in our mouths. Everything would be perfect if this really was a holiday, if all the day off meant was roaming the mountains with Gale, hunting for tonight's supper." **All at once, Katniss was picturing a world where things were better. Living in the woods without fear of the Capitol, or Peacekeepers, or the Hunger Games.

_I wish it were true,_ she thought. _I wish we could live in a world like that. I wouldn't have to worry so much. _

The story continued, everyone except for Cara oblivious to Katniss' wonderings. **"But instead we have to be standing in the square at two o'clock waiting for the names to be called out.**

"**We could do it, you know," Gale says quietly.**

"**What?" I ask.**

"**Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it," Says Gale.**

**I don't know how to respond. The idea is so preposterous.**

"**If we didn't have so many kids," he adds quickly." **Finnick cuts himself off, and like everyone else in the room—minus Cara—turned to Katniss and Gale with eyebrows raised.

Before anything could be said, Cara cut in. "Keep reading, Finnick."

"**They're not our kids, of course. But they might as well be. Gale's two little brothers and a sister. Prim. And you may as well throw in our mothers, too, because how would they live without us? Who would fill those mouths that are always asking for more? With both of us hunting daily, there are still nights when game has to be swapped for lard or shoelaces or wool, still nights when we go to bed with our stomachs growling." **Johanna seemed to notice that hunting and protecting her sister basically ran Katniss' life.

_I might be like that, _she thought bitterly. _If I had any family left to protect. I will never forgive you, Snow. You _will_ pay._

"**I never want to have kids," I say.**

"**I might. If we didn't live here," says Gale.**

"**But you do," I say, irritated.**

"**Forget it," he snaps back.**

**The conversation feels all wrong. Leave? How can I leave Prim, who is the only person in the world I'm certain I love? And Gale is devoted to his family. We can't leave, so why bother talking about it?" **Gale and Cara were locked in a staring contest. Grey eyes bore into blue ones. The others had started to take notice, and Finnick's reading slowly came to a halt as they watched the pair stare each other down.

Cara was picking up on the others' moods, but largely ignoring them for the time being. Gale's thoughts had her on edge, and the fact that she knew what would happen in the very near future was not helping her distrust for him.

Gale looked away first. He noticed the others watching, and shot them a glare. "Just read," he snapped at Finnick.

Finnick sifted uncomfortably, cleared his throat, and continued. **"And even if we did… even if we did… where did this stuff about having kids come from? There's never been anything romantic between Gale and me. When we met, I was a skinny twelve-year-old, and although he was only two years older, he already looked like a man. It took a long time for us to even become friends, to stop haggling over every trade and begin helping each other out." **The two shared a glance and an amused smile. They both remembered those days, when they would argue excessively over who got what and how much money they each got after selling at the Hob.

It had gotten better, but not quickly.

"**Besides, if he wants kids, Gale won't have any trouble finding a wife." **Gale frowned at that. He knew he could find someone else, but he was irritated that Katniss didn't return his feelings.

Cara shook her head, exasperated. Peeta was sitting quietly, wondering if he had a chance with her. She was so frustrated that she almost burst out at the both of them.

_Easy, S.,_ came Will's voice in her head. _They won't know what you're talking about. Give it time; they'll learn._

_It's hard, Will, _she complained back. _I hate them both. Katniss would've been so much better off without the both of them confusing her and distracting her. And you know what happens to Prim. Seeing her for real isn't helping me like Gale any better._

_I know. You can do it. The more assignments you go through, the easier it gets, I promise, _Will soothed her. Cara sighed aloud and folded her arms across her chest like a petulant child that wasn't getting its way.

Oblivious to Cara's rantings, Finnick had continued reading. **"He's good-looking, he's strong enough to handle the work in the mines, and he can hunt. You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in school that they want him. It makes me jealous—" **Gale visibly perked up, hoping that maybe Katniss did share his feelings but just didn't realize it, only to deflate when Finnick finished the sentence.

"—**but not for the reason people would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find.**

"**What do you want to do?" I ask. We can hunt, fish, or gather.**

"**Let's fish at the lake. We can leave our poles and gather in the woods. Get something nice for tonight," he says.**

**Tonight. After the reaping, everyone is supposed to celebrate." **Although Finnick didn't say anything, Cara could hear his vile thoughts about the Capitol, about Snow, about the Hunger Games. And yes, his… side job.

Still, he continued to read. **"And a lot of people do, out of relief that their children have been spared for another year. But at least two families will pull their shutters, lock their doors, and try to figure out how they will survive the painful weeks to come." **All of the Victors flinched. They had gone through the Games, been through hell, literally, only to win and come back out to nightmares and threats and more mental scars that could ever be fixed.

They didn't think about what they had put their families through.

"**We make out well. The predators ignore us on a day when easier, tastier prey abounds. By late morning, we have a dozen fish, a bag of greens and, best of all, a gallon of strawberries." **Prim's stomach began to growl again at the mention of food. She hadn't had the chance to eat before being summoned here.

"**I found the patch a few years ago, but Gale had the idea to string mesh nets around it to keep out the animals." **It was smart, Haymitch admitted begrudgingly to himself. The boy would've been a contender in the Games as well.

"**On the way home, we swing by the Hob, the black market that operates in an abandoned warehouse that once held coal. When they came up with a more efficient system that transported the coal directly from the mines to the trains, the Hob gradually took over the space. Most businesses are closed by this time on reaping day, but the black market's still fairly busy. We easily trade six of the fish for good bread, the other two for salt. Greasy Sae, the bony old woman who sells bowls of hot soup from a large kettle, takes half the greens off our hands in exchange for a couple chunks of paraffin. We might do a tad better elsewhere, but we make an effort to keep on good terms with Greasy Sae." **

_I wonder why that is? _Haymitch wondered to himself, trying to ignore the headache beginning to bloom in the back of his skull from the lack of alcohol.

"**She's the only one who can consistently be counted on to buy wild dog. We don't hunt them on purpose, but if you're attacked and you take out a dog or two, well, meat is meat." **

_Seems fair enough,_ Johanna thought, observing the group._ I know a fair few back home that wouldn't mind some wild dog._

"**Once it's in the soup, I'll call it beef," Greasy Sae says with a wink. No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog, but the Peacekeepers who come to the Hob can afford to be a little choosier.**

**When we finish our business at the market, we go to the back door of the mayor's house to sell half the strawberries, knowing he had a particular fondness for them and can afford our price. The mayor's daughter, Madge, opens the door." **Effie was trying to be quiet, keeping Cara's words from earlier in mind. She couldn't believe that even the _mayor_ was buying illegal goods.

"**She's in my year at school. Being the mayor's daughter, you'd expect her to be a snob, but she's all right. She just keeps to herself. Like me." **Cara briefly wondered if she should've summoned Madge as well, but quickly dismissed it. Madge was really only important because of the pin and maybe the morphling, but other than that she didn't have much interaction in the books.

"**Since neither of us has a group of friends, we seem to end up with each other a lot at school. Eating lunch, sitting next to each other at assemblies, partnering for sports activities. We rarely talk, which suits us both just fine.**

**Today her drab school outfit has been replaced by an expensive white dress, and her hair is done up with a pink ribbon. Reaping clothes." **Cinna began to picture the outfit in his mind. It was plain by Capitol standards, he admitted to himself, but when the pink was paired together with the white, it would go amazingly well on someone like the person the book had described.

"**Pretty dress," says Gale.**

**Madge shoots him a look, trying to see if it's a genuine compliment or if he's just being ironic. It **_**is **_**a pretty dress, but she would never be wearing it ordinarily. She presses her lips together and then smiles. "Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don't I?" **Effie nodded approvingly. Someone respected the laws and their image in District 12. She hadn't met the mayor's wife or daughter, and nor had she wanted to up until this point. Perhaps with a few pointers from her, this Madge might be halfway decent.

"**Now it's Gale's turn to be confused. Does she mean it? Or is she messing with him? I'm guessing the second.**

"**You won't be going to the Capitol," Gale says coolly. His eyes land on a small circular pin that adorns her dress. Real gold. Beautifully crafted. It could keep a family in bread for months." **It was a pattern, Finnick realized. Everything that Katniss did could be tied back to her family; will it help them or hurt them?

But he kept reading. **"What can you have? Five entries? I had six when I was just twelve years old."**

"**That's not her fault," I say.**

"**No, it's no one's fault. Just the way it is," says Gale.**

**Madge's face has become closed off. She puts the money for the berries in my hand. "Good luck, Katniss."**

"**You, too," I say, and the door closes.**

**We walk toward the Seam in silence. I don't like that Gale took a dig at Madge, but he's right, of course." **

_And he is_, Haymitch thought bitterly. The rich having it so much easier than the poor. If he hadn't been poor before his Games, he wouldn't have known just exactly how unfair the entire thing was.

"**The reaping system is unfair, with the poor getting the worst of it. You become eligible for the reaping the day you turn twelve. That year, your name is entered once. At thirteen, twice. And so on and so on until you reach eighteen, the final year of eligibility, when your name goes into the pool seven times. That's true for every citizen in all twelve districts in the entire country of Panem." **Finnick paused briefly to take a drink. His throat was getting raw and sore, like it did if he swallowed the saltwater from home by accident.

"**But here's the catch," **he continued. **"Say you are poor and starving as we were. You can opt to add your name more times in exchange for tesserae. Each tessera is worth a meager year's supply of grain and oil for one person. You may do this for each of your family members as well. So, at the age of twelve, I had my name entered four times. Once, because I had to, and three times for tesserae for grain and oil for myself, Prim, and my mother. In fact, every year I have needed to do this. So now, at the age of sixteen, my name will be in the reaping twenty times. Gale, who is eighteen and has been either helping or single-handedly feeding a family of five for seven years, will have his name in forty-two times." **Gale flinched a little at the reminder. Just yesterday he had signed up for the tesserae for his family. Little Posie would need it, not to mention Vick and Rory and his mother, Hazelle. Forty-two times.

_No_, he thought, _the odds are certainly not in my favor this year_.

"**You can see why someone like Madge, who has never been in danger of needing a tessera, can set him off. The chance of her name being drawn is very slim compared to those of us who live in the Seam. Not impossible, but slim." **Cara shook her head sadly. Not impossible, but slim. If that was so for Madge, with only seven, then Prim's one slip was next to impossible. And yet, she was here, listening to these people read about their futures and knowing that by the end of the series, most of the people in the room with her will read about their own deaths.

"**And even though the rules were set up by the Capitol, not the districts, certainly not Madge's family, it's hard not to resent those who don't have to sign up for tesserae.**

**Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected. On other days, deep in the woods, I've listened to him rant about how the tesserae are just another tool to cause misery in our district. A way to plant hatred between the starving workers of the Seam and those who can generally count on supper and thereby ensure that we will never trust one another. "It's to the Capitol's advantage to have us divided among ourselves," he might say if there were no ears to hear but mine." **Cinna quietly reflected on how it was true. Even though he was from the Capitol, he had always known he wasn't going to be like them: obsessed with the latest clothing and technology, always needing money and trying to better their status.

Meanwhile, Finnick had continued. **"If it wasn't reaping day. If a girl with a gold pin had not made what I'm sure she thought was a harmless comment.**

**As we walk, I glance over at Gale's face, still smoldering under his stony expression. His rages seem pointless to me, although I never say so. It's not that I don't agree with him. I do. But what good is yelling about the Capitol in the middle of the woods? It doesn't change anything. It doesn't make things fair. It doesn't fill our stomachs. In fact, it scares off the nearby game. I let him yell though. Better he does it in the woods than in the district." **Gale frowned a little. He hadn't known that Katniss found his ravings pointless. She never did participate, but she didn't stop him either, leading him to assume that she agreed.

"**Gale and I divide our spoils, leaving two fish, a couple of loaves of good bread, greens, a quart of strawberries, salt, paraffin, and a bit of money for each.**

"**See you in the square," I say. **

"**Wear something pretty," he says flatly.**

**At home, I find my mother and sister ready to go. My mother wears a fine dress from her apothecary days. Prim is in my first reaping outfit, a skirt and ruffled blouse." **Prim thought back to the very same outfit, hanging up to keep it wrinkle-free, just waiting to be worn. In truth, she dreaded that outfit, knowing that it would be worn on what could possibly be the scariest day of her life.

"**It's a bit big on her, but my mother has made it stay with pins. Even so, she's having trouble keeping the blouse tucked in at the back.**

**A tub of warm water waits for me. I scrub off the dirt and sweat from the woods and even wash my hair. To my surprise, my mother has laid out one of her own lovely dresses. A soft blue thing with matching shoes." **Katniss remembered that dress. She also knew for a fact that her mother hadn't worn it since her father died. She hardly ever wore any of her clothing from her past.

"**Are you sure?" I ask. I'm trying to get past rejecting offers of help from her. For a while, I was so angry, I wouldn't allow her to do anything for me." **Katniss waited for the ridicule, theincredulous and disgusted looks, but none came. Johanna was staring at the floor, Haymitch was glaring at the wall, Gale and Peeta were giving each other some serious eye contact, Effie was checking her nails, Prim was sitting very quietly beside her, and Cinna was just observing the group as a whole.

The only one who met her eye was Cara. Katniss wasn't sure what to make of the young girl. She didn't seem normal. Not like the Capitol, but more like she wasn't from this world. She didn't belong in Panem.

"**And this is something special. Her clothes from her past are very precious to her.**

"**Of course. Let's put your hair up, too," she says. I let her towel-dry it and braid it up on my head. I can hardly recognize myself in the cracked mirror that leans against the wall.**

"**You look beautiful," says Prim in a hushed voice.**

"**And nothing like myself," I say. I hug her, because I know these next few hours will be terrible for her." **Everyone in that room knows how horrible a first reaping is. They all went through theirs. Except for Cara. But the girl could imagine, and imagine she did, especially when it came to writing her stories.

"**Her first reaping. She's about as safe as you can get, since she's only entered once. I wouldn't let her take any tesserae. But she's worried about me. That the unthinkable might happen." **

_Of course I'm worried, _Prim thought indignantly. She knew that Katniss was strong, but not even her beloved older sister was invincible. Not against the Capitol.

"**I protect Prim in every way I can, but I'm powerless against the reaping. The anguish I always feel when she's in pain wells up in my chest and threatens to register on my face. I notice her blouse has pulled out of her skirt in the back again and force myself to stay calm. "Tuck your tail in, little duck," I say, smoothing the blouse back in place.**

**Prim giggles and gives a small "Quack."**

"**Quack yourself," I say with a light laugh. The kind only Prim can draw out of me. "Come on, let's eat," I say and plant a quick kiss on the top of her head." **While Katniss had learned to hide her feelings, Prim had not, Peeta noticed. Prim's fear and worry was as apparent on her face as her eyes were blue and her hair blond. He felt sorry for her.

"**The fish and greens are already cooking in a stew, but that will be for supper. We decide to leave the strawberries and bakery bread for this evening's meal, to make it special we say. Instead we drink milk from Prim's goat, Lady, and eat the rough bread made from the tessera grain, although no one has much appetite anyway.**

**At one o'clock, we head for the square. Attendance is mandatory unless you are on death's door. This evening, officials will come around and check to see if this is the case. If not, you'll be imprisoned." **Johanna snorted quietly. Some people may not be on death's door, but they could very well be gravely injured and unable to move. There had been someone like that on year, back in Seven, and they had still been imprisoned.

_Pointless._

"**It's too bad, really, that they hold the reaping in the square — one** **of the few places in District 12 that can be pleasant. The square's surrounded by shops, and on public market days, especially if there's good weather, it has a holiday feel to it. But today, despite the bright banners hanging on the buildings, there's an air of grimness. The camera crews, perched like buzzards on rooftops, only add to the effect." **Effie shuddered at the morbid description. She had never seen the camera crews like that before, not until this very point in time. Every year she went to District 12, only to be met with drabness and equally drab faces. There had always been a heaviness in the air, so thick she thought she could almost touch it.

Now she realized that it had been fear.

"**People file in silently and sign in. The reaping is a good opportunity for the Capitol to keep tabs on the population as well. Twelve- through eighteen-year-olds are herded into roped areas marked off by ages, the oldest in the front, the young ones, like Prim, toward the back. Family members line up around the perimeter, holding tightly to one another's hands. But there are others, too, who have no one they love at stake, or who no longer care, who slip among the crowd, taking bets on the two kids whose names will be drawn."**

_Sick_, Cinna thought disgustedly. The people of the districts were already scared enough, and then he learned about the ones who _betted _on which names would be drawn. Little did Cinna know, his thoughts were being echoed throughout the entire room. But Cara knew, and she agreed whole-heartedly.

"**Odds are given on their ages, whether they're Seam or merchant, if they will break down and weep. Most refuse dealing with racketeers, but carefully, carefully. These same people tend to be informers, and who hasn't broken the law? I could be shot on a daily basis for hunting, but the appetites of those in charge protect me. Not everyone can claim the same." **It was a good system, Haymitch admitted. He had seen the girl and boy on occasions at the Hob, bartering with the various sellers for game. He'd had half a mind to buy something himself a couple of times, but always got distracted and forgot.

"**Anyway, Gale and I agree that if we have to choose between dying of hunger and a bullet to the head, the bullet would be much quicker." **Effie let out a soft gasp, which Katniss heard. The Seam girl turned her gaze onto the Capitol woman, showing her with her eyes that she completely agreed with the book and would do it, too.

"**The space gets tighter, more claustrophobic as people arrive. The square's quite large, but not enough to hold District 12's population of about eight thousand. Latecomers are directed to the adjacent streets, where they can watch the event on screens as it's televised live by the state.**

**I find myself standing in a clump of sixteens from the Seam. We all exchange terse nods then focus our attention on the temporary stage set up before the Justice Building. It holds three chairs, a podium, and two large glass balls, one for the boys and one for the girls. I stare at the paper slips in the girls' ball. Twenty of them have Katniss Everdeen written on them in careful handwriting." **The tension in the silver room had increased tremendously. The anxiety and fear and even excitement pressed down on Cara like a car, crushing the breath from her lungs. She took a deep breath and focused on channeling the feelings away, burying them so they weren't as strong.

_Good job_, Will commented in her head.

"**Two of the three chairs fill with Madge's father, Mayor Undersee, who's a tall, balding man, and Effie Trinket, District 12's escort, fresh from the Capitol with her scary white grin, pinkish hair, and spring green suit." **Effie pursed her lips, but held her tongue at Katniss' description of her. Scary? Effie liked to think of herself as quite fashionable, always up-to-date on the latest styles. District 12's clothing was just ghastly, in her opinion.

"**They murmur to each other and then look with concern at the empty seat.**

**Just as the town clock strikes two, the mayor steps up to the podium and begins to read. It's the same story every year. He tells the history of Panem, the country that rose up out of the ashes of a place that was once called North America." **

_Who knows? This might just be my very near future, _Cara thought with a sickly-amused smile that nobody saw. _At the rate Obama was going, North America _would _be nothing but ashes. Start World War III and get us all blown up with nuclear bombs. _

"**He lists the disasters, the droughts, the storms, the fires, the encroaching seas that swallowed up so much of the land, the brutal war for what little sustenance remained. The result was Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated."**

_Not completely_, Cara thought. She knew it was wrong, she knew that District 13 was one of the main reasons Katniss survived the war, but she wanted it destroyed.

"**The Treaty of Treason gave us new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games.**

**The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.**

"Why are we reading about this?" Haymitch asked gruffly before Finnick could continue. "We know all of this already."

Cara turned to look at him. "I don't make the books, Haymitch," she said quietly. "I only bring them to you so you can read them and learn. If it's in the book, then it must be what Katniss is thinking at the time. Continue, please, Finnick."

Finnick does. **"Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill on another while we watch — this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the message is clear. "Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there's nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy you every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen."**

**To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. All year, the Capitol will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil and even delicacies like sugar while the rest of us battle starvation." **Cara reached down and pulled out a small little notepad and began scribbling on it. Prim, being the closest to the strange girl, looked on curiously. When she caught a glimpse of the paper, all she saw were strange markings. Underneath, there were strange words like '_Eka_,' '_Bi_,' and '_Si_.'

"**It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks," intones the mayor.**

**Then he reads the list of past District 12 victors. In seventy-four years, we have had exactly two. Only one is still alive. Haymitch Abernathy, a paunchy, middle-aged man, who at this moment appears hollering something unintelligible, staggers onto the stage, and falls into the third chair. He's drunk. Very." **Haymitch grunted at his description, but he didn't really care. He has a right to be the way he was, and no one was going to take that away from him.

"**The crowd responds with its token applause, but he's confused and tries to give Effie Trinket a big hug, which she barely manages to fend off.**

**The mayor looks distressed. Since all of this is being televised, right now District 12 is the laughingstock of Panem, and he knows it. He quickly tried to pull the attention back to the reaping by introducing Effie Trinket."**

_Here it comes, _Gale thought tiredly. Already he has had his mind crushed by learning that Katniss doesn't share his feelings. He just wanted to leave and go home.

Finnick took another drink and continued. **"Bright and bubbly as ever, Effie Trinket trots to the podium and gives her signature, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever _in your favor!" Her pink hair must be a wig because her curls have shifted slightly off-center since her encounter with Haymitch." **Effie winced.

"**She goes on a bit about what an honor it is to be here, although everyone knows she's just aching to get bumped up to a better district where they have proper victors, not drunks who molest you in front of the entire nation." **Effie was too busy worrying about her book-self's hair situation to properly register what Finnick had just read.

"**Through the crowd, I spot Gale looking back at me with a ghost of a smile. As reapings go, this one at least has a slight entertainment factor. But suddenly I am thinking of Gale and his forty-two names in that big glass ball and how the odds are not in his favor. Not compared to a lot of the boys.** **And maybe he's thinking the same thing about me because his face darkens and he turns away. "But there are still thousands of slips," I wish I could whisper to him." **The two share a look. This was going to happen very soon.

"**It's time for the drawing. Effie Trinket says as she always does, "Ladies first!" and crosses to the glass ball with the girls' names. She reaches in, digs her hand deep into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. The crowd draws in a collective breath and then you can hear a pin drop—" **It was the same in the silver room. **"— and I'm feeling nauseous and so desperately hoping that it's not me, that it's not me, that it's not me. **

Finnick paused and read through the last little bit. His face pinched with distress, and then the read, **"Effie Trinket crossed back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it's not me.**

**It's Primrose Everdeen." **

There was a beat of silence in the room as all eyes turned onto the little twelve-year-old.

And then the chaos erupted all at once.

**So I've been working on this for a little over a month. I should've started with the Tiger's Curse series. Hope you all enjoy, and please review, even if you absolutely hate it. (I can take the hate, so bring it on!) This fic is rated M due to violence.**

**~Angel**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

**Haha! I would've updated last week, but I was having issues with school and was grounded from my computer for the rest of the week.**

**I would like to make shout-outs to all of my reviewers right now, because you guys are all great and urged me to continue this story.**

**To Dauntlessgirl57: Thank you! Cara may not look like me, but she has my ideas and beliefs. The idea kind of came to me through a dream and my fantasies of having the characters read their own books. There's also a whole back-story to the entire idea, but I'm not sure if I'll actually write it up. What do you think?**

**To Arriane Malum: Thank you very, very much. Told you I would update by the end of this week! :)**

**To Darkzuryan: Even though I had to get your review translated (have to love Google Translate), it was totally worth it. I will continue.**

**To God1801: I am very sorry that you don't like Cara very much. However, these are my personal thoughts and I believe everyone is entitled to their opinions. I try my hardest to get everyone's personalities right and keep them in character otherwise the story just won't seem right.**

**To thesmallstar: Thank you! I can't believe how long the chapters are in this book!**

**To Juyon1: It's very nice to know that you enjoyed my story, especially since I wasn't too sure about it. Thanks!**

**To Guest: I agree that not many people write about this kind of stuff and thought I'd contribute to the very small handful that did.**

**To daisy0110: Thanks!**

**To FindingMyWhy: I try my best to edit my stories, but I'm human. Not perfect. Thank you!**

**To .initiate: Thank you for being my very first reviewer! **

**Disclaimer: Suzanne Collins owns the Hunger Games. I just own Cara and the idea of Book Travelers. :(**

**Right, now onto the story!**

Chapter 2

"_What_?" Katniss yelled, raising her voice considerably. She turned her grey eyes onto the silver-clad girl, a fierce glare taking over her features. Prim, however, had gone completely ashen and was fighting to hold back tears. Everyone in the room except Katniss and Cara were in different states of frozen shock.

"Katniss, you need to keep calm," Cara said softly, not seeming at all disturbed. She was, of course, terrified. What if something happened and she failed her first assignment?

_Relax_, came Will's soothing voice. _If something goes really wrong, I'll be there. You won't fail._ Still, Cara was not reassured by her handler's words.

While Katniss' glare did not cease, she did quiet down, breathing hard. "Is this true?" she asked.

Instead of answering the furious Everdeen girl, Cara stood up and removed the book from Finnick's hand. "I'm not allowed to tell you what happens," she said, looking around the room at everyone. "The only way to find out is to read. Is there someone else who wants to read?"

Gale, silent and sullen, volunteered. He took his place back on his couch, next to Prim, who was cradled in Katniss' arm and holding back tears.

"**Chapter two," **he started. **"One time, when I was in a blind in a tree, waiting motionless for game to wander by, I dozed off and fell ten feet to the ground, landing on my back. It was as if the impact had knocked every wisp of air from my lungs, and I lay there struggling to inhale, to exhale, to do anything." **Katniss was frustrated, wondering how this related to anything in the current situation.

"**That's how I feel now, trying to remember how to breathe, unable to speak, totally stunned as the name bounces around the inside of my skull. Someone is gripping my arm, a boy from the Seam, and I think maybe I started to fall and he caught me." **Peeta was staring at Katniss, worried about her. Johanna was upset but trying to hide it. Haymitch was glowering at the wall. Cinna was taking everything in. Effie was perfecting her hair, making sure that nothing like what happened to her book-self had been transferred into real life.

Finnick, now free of his reading duty, spared a glance at Cara. The girl was staring blankly up towards the ceiling, mouth moving but no sound coming out. She didn't seem at all worried about what was happening in the book, which brought Finnick's attention to the fact that she must have already known what was going to happen.

"**There must have been some mistake. This can't be happening. Prim was one slip of paper in thousands!" **

_It's always like that, _Johanna thought angrily._ But there's not a mistake. It _is _happening. And only one thing can change it. _

Gale continued gruffly. **"Her chances of being chosen were so remote that I'd not even bothered to worry about her. Hadn't I'd done everything? Taken the tesserae, refused to let her do the same? One slip. One slip in thousands. The odds had been entirely in her favor. But it hadn't mattered." **At this point in time, the tears Prim had been holding back had dissipated. She was numb now, barely hearing a word Gale had read. Katniss held her even tighter.

"**Somewhere far away, I can hear the crowd murmuring unhappily as the always do when a twelve-year-old gets chosen because no one thinks this is fair. And then I see her, blood drained from her face, hands clenched in fists at her sides, walking with stiff, small steps up toward the stage, passing me, and I see the back of her blouse has become untucked and hangs out over her skirt." **Cinna was taking in everyone's tense posture—well, almost everyone. Effie, finished with her hair, was looking quite excited. Cara, who had been staring at the ceiling, turned her blue and silver gaze onto the Capitol man. Just curious, a mutual feeling the two shared about the other.

"**It's this detail, the untucked blouse forming a ducktail, that brings me back to myself.**

"**Prim!" the strangled cry comes out of my throat, and my muscles begin to move again. "Prim!" I don't need to shove through the crowd. The other kids make way immediately allowing me a straight path to the stage." **Gale's voice had tensed and become pained, because he knew what Katniss planned to do.

"**I reach her just as she is about to mount the steps. With one sweep of my arm, I push her behind me.**

"**I volunteer!" I gasp. "I volunteer as tribute!" **everyone in the room went considerably still and silent. Most of their faces were tensed and pinched.

Effie, unaware of the sudden tension, was absolutely enthralled. "Oh, my," she all but screeched. "District Twelve's very first volunteer! Very well done, my dear!" Katniss barely even registered the Capitol woman's praise. It made Cara glad, because she had no idea how Katniss would react.

"**There's some confusion on the stage," **Gale read on, fighting to keep his voice steady. **"District 12 hasn't had a volunteer in decades and the protocol has become rusty. The rule is that once a tribute's name has been pulled from the ball, another eligible boy, if a boy's name has been read, or girl, if a girl's name has been read, can step forward to take his or her place. In some districts, in which winning the reaping is such a great honor, people are eager to risk their lives, the volunteering is complicated." **

_And they're all despicable_, Katniss thought harshly. It's no wonder why hardly any of the other districts win the Hunger Games. The Careers were all better fed, had better living situations, and had the favor of the Capitol. _Not to mention the illegal training_.

"**But here in District 12, where the word _tribute _is pretty much synonymous with the word _corpse_, volunteers are all but extinct." **That seemed to bring Effie up short. She knew that volunteers were few and far between, but never had she fathomed why. The reason behind it all.

"**Lovely!" says Effie Trinket. "But I believe there's a small matter of introducing the reaping winner and then asking for volunteers, and if one does come forth then we, um…" she trails off, unsure herself.**

"**What does it matter?" says the mayor. He's looking at me with a pained expression on his face. He doesn't know me really, but there's a faint recognition there. I am the girl who brings the strawberries. The girl his daughter might have spoken of on occasion. The girl who five years ago stood huddled with her mother and sister, as he presented her, the oldest child, with a metal of valor." **That same medal, Katniss knew, was hidden in the old, beat-up wooden jewelry box underneath her shared bed back home. There were also a few other precious memories, like the ribbon that had been around Lady's neck when Katniss had brought her home and some of her mother's old necklaces. Tucked away, hidden from sight but not from mind.

"**A medal for her father, vaporized in the mines. Does he remember that? "What does it matter?" he repeats gruffly. "Let her come forward."**

**Prim is screaming hysterically behind me. She's wrapped her skinny arms around me like a vice. "No, Katniss! No! You can't go!"**

"**Prim, let go," I say harshly, because this is upsetting me and I don't want to cry. When they televise the replay of the reapings tonight, everyone will take note of my tears—" **It was smart, Finnick had to admit. Tears were a sign of weakness, and with how small and thin Katniss was, they would make her an easy target.

"—**and I'll be marked an easy target. A weakling. I will give no one that satisfaction. "Let go!" **No, it wasn't a tactic, Finnick realized. It was just Katniss being stubborn. Cara discreetly nodded her head, agreeing with the District 4 man's thoughts.

"**I can feel someone pulling her from my back. I turn around and see Gale has lifted Prim off the ground and she's thrashing in his arms. "Up you go, Catnip," he says, in a voice he's fighting to keep steady, and then he carries Prim off toward my mother. I steel myself and climb the staff.**

"**Well, bravo!" gushes Effie Trinket. "That's the spirit of the Games!" she's pleased to finally have a district with a little action going on in it. "What's your name?" **

_No_, Prim thought desperately. _No, no, no, no, no! Please don't let Katniss go into the Games! Not because of me! Take it back! Please, please, please! _

"**I swallow hard. "Katniss Everdeen," I say.**

"**I bet my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal all the glory, do we? Come on, everybody! Let's give a round of applause to our newest tribute!" trills Effie Trinket." **Haymitch scoffed loudly, but was mostly ignored by the others. Applause that was just a forced formality, that never meant anything except "_goodbye_" and "_we hope you go quickly_."

"**To the everlasting credit of the people of District 12, not one person claps. Not even the ones holding betting slips, the ones usually beyond caring. Possibly because they know me from the Hob, or knew my father, or have encountered Prim, who no one can help loving. So instead of acknowledging applause, I stand there unmoving while they take part in the boldest form of dissent they can manage. Silence. Which says we do not agree. We do not condone. All of this is wrong." **Peeta's eyes were downcast, hurt and anguish pulsing through him. His girl would be going to her death and he hadn't said a word about his true feelings.

"**Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me. But a shift has occurred since I stepped up to take Prim's place, and now it seems I have become someone precious. At first one, then another, then almost every member of the crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love." **Cinna closed his eyes and tried to envision the picture the book had just painted out for him. It wasn't that difficult. Cinna had a feeling that Katniss stepping up for her sister wasn't the only reason the people of District 12 were saluting her.

She was the type who demanded respect.

"**Now I am truly in danger of crying, but fortunately Haymitch chooses this time to come staggering across the stage to congratulate me. "Look at her. Look at this one!" he hollers, throwing an arm around my shoulders. He's surprisingly strong for suck a wreck. "I like her!" his breath reeks of liquor and it's been a long time since he's bathed." **Effie's gasp of horror was muffled by her gloved hand. Not only had his book-self caused her book-self a hair situation, Haymitch's book-self had touched her book-self smelling like _that_?

_Unsanitary_.

"**Lot's of…" he can't think of the word for a while. "Spunk!" he says triumphantly. "More than you!" he releases me and starts for the front of the stage. "More than you!" he shouts, pointing directly into the camera." **Johanna and Finnick both sucked in breaths, turning to stare at the old drunkard, who in turn just shrugged.

"**Is he addressing the audience or is he so drunk he might actually be taunting the Capitol?" **

_More likely the latter_, Cara thought amusedly, laughing on the inside. She knew what was coming. After all, it was one of her favorite parts.

"**I'll never know because just as he's opening his mouth to continue, Haymitch plummets off the stage and knocks himself unconscious.**

**He's disgusting, but I'm grateful. With every camera gleefully trained on him, I have just enough time to release the small, choked sound in my throat and compose myself."** Finnick and Johanna had busted out laughing at Haymitch's newest escapade, all but drowning out Gale's last sentence.

"Glad I could be of service," he muttered, tipping an invisible hat towards Katniss. Despite the grave situation, Prim somehow managed to find it in her to giggle at the old man's antics.

Eventually, Finnick and Johanna's laughter died down and allowed Gale to continue reading. **"I put my hands behind my back and stare into the distance. I can see the hills I climbed this morning with Gale. For a moment, I yearn for something…making our way in the woods…but I know I was right about not running off. Because who else would have volunteered for Prim?" **Katniss' faint smile that had manifested itself during Haymitch's blight disappeared. It was luck. Pure, undiluted luck that her book-self had resisted the temptation.

"**Haymitch is whisked away on a stretcher, and Effie Trinket is trying to get the ball rolling again. "What an exciting day!" she warbles as she attempts to straighten her wig, which has listed severely to the right." **Effie winced and returned to making sure her hair was perfect.

"**But more excitement to come! It's time to choose our boy tribute!" Clearly hoping to contain her tenuous hair situation, she plants one hand on her head as she crosses to the ball that contains the boys' names and grabs the first slip she encounters. She zips back to the podium, and I don't even have time to wish for Gale's safety when she's reading the name. "Peeta Mellark." **The semi-high spirits that had been in the room instantly plummeted to the ground. Peeta's entire frame froze, and Cara briefly wondered if he'd pass out.

_Might be fun to watch_, she thought, but instantly shook the thought away. Having one of her charges pass out probably wouldn't look good in the Council's eyes for her first assignment.

Gale continued uncomfortably. **"Peeta Mellark!**

_**Oh, no**_**, I think. **_**Not him**_**. Because I recognize his name, although I have never spoken directly to its owner. Peeta Mellark.**

**No, the odds are not in my favor today." **By now, everyone was looking back and forth between the two, wondering what happened.

"**I watch him as he makes his way toward the stage. Medium height, stocky build, ashy blond hair that falls in waves over his forehead. The shock of the moment is registering on his face, you can see his struggle to remain emotionless, but his blue eyes show the alarm I've so often seen in prey. Yet he climbs steadily onto the stage and takes his place.**

**Effie Trinket asks for volunteers, but no one steps forward. He has two older brothers, I know, I've seen them in the bakery, but one is probably too old now to volunteer and the other won't. This is standard. Family devotion only goes so far for most people on reaping day. What I did was the radical thing." **Peeta's frame had tensed at the knowledge that no one would take his place. This wasn't what he wanted at all. He loved her. Honestly, truly loved her, and now he was being forced to kill her.

"**The mayor begins to read the long, dull Treaty of Treason as he does every year at this point—it's required— but I'm not listening to a word.**

_**Why him? **_**I think. Then I try to convince myself it doesn't matter. Peeta Mellark and I are not friends. Not neighbors. We don't speak. Our only real interaction happened years ago. He's probably forgotten it. But I haven't and I know I never will…" **from the look on Peeta's face, Johanna knew that he hadn't either. She was good at reading faces, and the boy wasn't even trying to hide his emotions. It was going to blow up in his face one day.

"**It was during the worst time. My father had been killed in the mine accident three months earlier in the bitterest January anyone could remember. The numbness of his loss had passed, and the pain would hit me out of nowhere, doubling me over, racking my body with sobs. **_**Where are you? **_**I would cry out in my mind. **_**Where have you gone? **_**Of course, there was never any answer." **Once again, Katniss was forced to glare at the ground as people began giving her looks of pity. She didn't want—didn't _need_—pity.

"**The district had given us a small amount of money as compensation for his death—" **

"_What_?" Johanna roared. "Your father was _vaporized_, and they give you money as _compensation_?"

"There's not much else they _can _do, Johanna," Finnick said quietly. "They can't bring him back."

"It's not right," Johanna continued to seethe. "You don't give someone money for in place of a lost loved one." The District 7 woman decided to stop talking. Her voice had come dangerously close to breaking, and if it had, it would've been unbearable. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. The tension and awkwardness seemed to break Cara out of her trance, staring back up at the ceiling and mouthing the words to the Book Travelers' Theme.

"Gale, read," she said quietly, urging the eighteen-year-old to continue.

"—**enough to cover one month of grieving at which time my mother would be expected to get a job. Only she didn't. She didn't do anything but sit propped up in a chair or, more often, huddled under the blankets on her bed, eyes fixed on some point in the distance. Once in a while, she'd stir, get up as if moved by some urgent purpose, only to then collapse back into stillness. No amount of pleading from Prim seemed to affect her." **Prim barely remembered anything from that point in time. Just some flashes. The only thing she really knew for certain was that afterwards, Katniss had become distant and had detached herself from their mother. She knew that Katniss still hadn't really forgiven their mother, but was trying.

"**I was terrified. I suppose now that my mother was locked in some dark world of sadness, but at the time, all I knew was that I had lost not only a father, but a mother as well. At eleven years old, with Prim just seven, I took over as head of the family. There was no choice. I bought our food at the market and cooked it as best I could and tried to keep Prim and myself looking presentable. Because if it had become unknown that my mother could no longer care for us, the district would have taken us away from her and placed us in the community home. I'd grown up seeing those home kids at school. The sadness, the marks of angry hands on their faces, the hopelessness that curled their shoulders forward. I could never let that happen to Prim. Sweet, tiny Prim who cried when I cried before she even knew the reason, who brushed and plaited my mother's hair before we left for school, who still polished my father's shaving mirror each night because he's hated the layer of coal dust that settled in everything in the Seam. The community home would crush her like a bug. So I kept our predicament a secret." **Prim wanted to open her mouth and object. Only, she couldn't find it in her to say anything. She was glad and grateful that Katniss had saved her from that horrible place.

So instead of objecting, she said, "Terry Leeva. He's from the community home. He says it's awful there."

"I know, Prim," Katniss said, just as softly. "I know."

With that knowledge and images fresh in their minds, they people in the room turned their attentions back to Gale as he started to read again.

"**But the money ran out and we were slowly starving to death. There's no other way to put it. I kept telling myself if only I could hold out to May, just May 8th, I would turn twelve and be able to sign up for the tesserae and get that precious grain and oil to feed us. Only there were still several weeks to go. We could well be dead by then." **Cinna tried to imagine how this strong girl in front of him looked back then.

_It must have been horrible_, he realized. _We eat and eat and eat every single day, and it's gotten to the point that we can't even imagine _not _having enough to eat. Not having three meals a day. _Cara, who had picked up on Cinna's thoughts, caught the man's eye and nodded in agreement.

"**Starvation's not an uncommon fate in District 12. Who hasn't seen the victims? Older people who can't work. Children from a family with too many to feed. Those injured in the mines. Straggling through the streets. And one day, you come upon them sitting motionless against a wall or lying in the Meadow, you hear wails from a house, and the Peacekeepers are called in to retrieve the body. Starvation is never the cause of death officially. It's always the flu, or exposure, or pneumonia. But that fools no one." **And it really didn't. Finnick and Johanna could see it in the childrens' faces, heard all about it in Haymitch's drunken rants. Even Cinna could believe it, and Effie was starting to get an idea.

"**On the afternoon of my encounter with Peeta Mellark, the rain was falling in relentless icy sheets. I had been in town, trying to trade some threadbare old baby clothes of Prim's in the public market, but there were no takers. Although I had been to the Hob on several occasions with my father, I was too frightened to venture into that rough, gritty place alone." **

_I wonder what changed_, Haymitch thought. He had often seen both the girl and boy there, selling game and haggling over prices. They seemed to know what they were doing, too.

"**The rain had soaked through my father's hunting jacket, leaving me chilled to the bone. For three days, we'd had nothing but boiled water with some old dried mint leaves I'd found in the back of a cupboard. By the time the market closed, I was shaking so hard I dropped my bundle of baby clothes in a mud puddle." **Finnick winced, nothing more than a tightening of his shoulders and a slight narrowing of his eyes at the sheer images in his mind.

"**I didn't pick it up for fear I would keel over and be unable to regain my feet. Besides, no one wanted those clothes.**

**I couldn't go home. Because at home was my mother with her dead eyes and my little sister, with her hollow cheeks and cracked lips. I couldn't walk into that room with the smoky fire from the damp branches I had scavenged at the edge of the woods after the coal had run out, my hands empty of any hope." **Out of any of them, Katniss was having the worse trouble listening to her hardest moments. She could feel the chill of the rain on her skin, the aching, gnawing hunger in her stomach that was non-existent now.

It was too real.

"**I found myself stumbling along a muddy lane behind the shops that serve the wealthiest townspeople. The merchants live above their businesses, so I was essentially in their backyards. I remember the outlines of garden beds not yet planted for the spring, a goat or two in a pen, one sodden dog tied to a post, hunched and defeated in the muck." **Effie gasped softly at Katniss' description.

"**All forms of stealing are forbidden in District 12. Punishable by death. But it crossed my mind that there might be something in the trash bins, and those were fair game. Perhaps a bone at the butcher's or rotted vegetables at the grocer's, something no one but my family was desperate enough to eat." **The Capitol woman's painted face screwed up with pure disgust at the thought of someone eating _trash_. It was unsanitary and someone could get seriously ill.

"**Unfortunately, the bins had just been emptied.**

**When I passed the baker's the smell of fresh bread was so overwhelming I felt dizzy. The ovens were in the back, and a golden glow spilled out the open kitchen door. I stood mesmerized by the heat and the luscious scent until the rain interfered, running its icy fingers down my back, forcing me back to life. I lifted the lid to the baker's trash bin and found it spotlessly, heartlessly bare." **Johanna forced herself to remain unmoved, unemotional. It was easier, simpler that way.

"**Suddenly a voice was screaming at me and I looked up to see the baker's wife, telling me to move on and did I want her to call the Peacekeepers and how sick she was of having those brats from the Seam pawing through her trash. The words were ugly and I had no defense." **Peeta remembered that night. He had been at the ovens when he heard his mother screaming as she often did. His brothers had been upstairs and his father asleep. He had moved forward to see what was the problem, only to see the girl.

"**As I carefully replaced the lid and backed away, I noticed him, a boy with blond hair peering out from behind his mother's back. I'd seen him at school. He was in my year, but I didn't know his name. He stuck with the town kids, so how would I? His mother went back into the bakery, grumbling, but he must have been watching me as I made my way behind the pen that held their pig and leaned against the far side of an old apple tree." **And he had been. Even though it was hard to see through the rain and the dark, Peeta had seen how thin she was. It hurt him to know that she was suffering.

He did what he had to do.

"**The realization that I'd have nothing to take home had finally sunk in. My knees buckled and I slid down the tree trunk to its roots. It was too much. I was too sick and weak and tired, oh, so tired. _Let them call the Peacekeepers and take us to the community home, _I thought. _Or better yet, let me die right here in the rain_." **It hurt Peeta even more knowing how close Katniss was to giving up. Cara rolled her eyes. Katniss was going to be fine.

_No thanks to you and Gale, though_, she thought bitterly.

"**There was a clatter in the bakery and I heard the woman screaming again and the sound of a blow, and I vaguely wondered what was going on. Feet sloshed toward me through the mud and I thought, _It's her. She's coming to drive me away with a stick._ But it wasn't her. It was the boy. In his arms, he carried two large loaves of bread that must have fallen into the fire because the crusts were scorched black." **

_Only they didn't just "fall," _thought Peeta. _They may have had a little help from me in reaching that point._

"**His mother was yelling, "Feed it to the pig, you stupid creature! Why not? No one decent will buy burned bread!"**

**He began to tear off chunks from the burned parts and toss them into the trough, ad the front bakery bell rung and the mother disappeared to help a customer." **

"You're mother's a witch, boy," Haymitch said gruffly.

Peeta nodded in agreement. "I know."

"**The boy never even glanced my way, but I was watching him. Because of the bread, because of the red weal that stood out on his cheekbone. What had she hit him with?" **

"A cane," Peeta said quietly, avoiding looking at Katniss just as she had been avoiding looking at him throughout the entire thing.

"**My parents never hit us. I couldn't even imagine it. The boy took one look back to the bakery as if checking that the coast was clear, the, his attention back on the pig, he threw a loaf of bread in my direction. The second quickly followed, and he sloshed back to the bakery, closing the kitchen door tightly behind him." **

"That was very noble, Peeta," Effie said kindly, offering the boy a scary-yet-kind smile.

"**I stared at the loaves in disbelief. They were fine, perfect, really, except for the burned areas. Did he mean for me to have them? He must have. Because there they were at my feet. Before anyone could witness what had happened I shoved the loaves up under my shirt, wrapped the hunting jacket tightly about me, and walked swiftly away. The heat of the bread burned into my skin, but I clutched it tighter, clinging to life." **

_And, ironically, it was for Katniss and her family_, Cara thought. Not only did the bread give them hope, but it also showed Katniss the dandelion. It was funny how one tiny little weed could make the difference between life and death.

"**By the time I reached home, the loaves had cooled somewhat, but the insides were still warm. When I dropped them on the table, Prim's hands reached up to tear off a chunk, but I made her sit, forced my mother to join us at the table, and poured warm tea. I scraped off the black stuff and sliced the bread. We ate an entire loaf, slice by slice. It was good, hearty bread, filled with raisins and nuts." **Katniss could remember that bread, the way its warmth had seeped into her body and given her hope.

"**I put my clothes to dry at the fire, crawled into bed, and fell into a dreamless sleep. It didn't occur to me until the next morning that the boy might have burned the bread on purpose. Might have dropped the loaves into the flames, knowing it meant being punished, and then delivered them to me."**

_I did_. Those two words echoed through Cara's mind. However much she may have disliked Peeta, she knew she should be grateful to him. So she put aside her personal convictions and decided to give this Peeta the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he would be different than his book-self.

"**But I dismissed this. It must have been an accident. Why would he have done it? He didn't even know me. Still, just throwing me the bread was an enormous kindness that would have surely resulted in a beating if discovered.**

**We ate slices of bread for breakfast and headed to school. It was as if spring had come overnight. Warm sweet air. Fluffy clouds. At school, I passed the boy in the hall, his cheek swelled up and his eye blackened." **Katniss winced.

_I should have thanked him_, she thought guiltily. Part of her knew she should thank him right now. And yet she couldn't bring herself to say those two tiny words.

_Stupid_.

"**He was with his friends and didn't acknowledge me in any way. But as I collected Prim and started for home that afternoon, I found him staring at me from across the school yard. Our eyes met for only a second, then he turned his head away. I dropped my gaze, embarrassed, and that's when I saw it. The first dandelion of the year. A bell went off in my head. I thought of the hours spent in the woods with my father and I knew how we were going to survive." **

_And it begins_, thought Cara. She wondered how everybody was going to react to the whole series. In fact, she wondered how they would react to just the next couple of chapters.

"**To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed. And more than once, I have turned in the school hallway and caught his eyes trained on me, only to flit away. I feel like I owe him something, and I hate owing people." **

_I'm right there with you, sister_, Cara thought tiredly. _Oh, and Will? You will totally owe me when this is over._

_And why's that? Because I introduced you to the Book Travelers?_

_No, because you completely _lied _about the benefits!_

_Excuse me; are you not getting your wish of meeting the characters from the Hunger Games?_

_Oh, shut it, Mr. Don't-Worry-It'll-Be-Fun_, Cara thought back. _You owe me and that's final_.

"**Maybe if I had thanked him at some point, I'd be feeling less conflicted now. I thought about it a couple of times, but the opportunity never seemed to present itself. And now it never will. Because we're going to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death. Exactly how am I supposed to work in a thank-you in there?" **It was a valid point, in any case.

"**They mayor finishes the dreary Treaty of Treason and motions for Peeta and me to shake hands, His are as solid and warm as those loaves of bread. Peeta looks me right in the eye and gives my hand what I think is meant to be a reassuring squeeze. Maybe it's just a nervous spasm.**

**We turn back to face the crowd as the anthem of Panem plays.**

**_Oh, well, _I think. _There will be twenty-four of us. Odds are someone else will kill him before I do. _**

**Of course, the odds have not been very dependable of late." **Gale cleared his throat and looked around.

"That's it," he said. "Who wants to read next?"

**Ugh! I wrote this entire chapter in one day. My back and hands hurt. Hope you're all happy! The only thing that got me through this is a big bowl of ice cream and episodes of Unforgettable (love that show). There should be an update next week, as I am trying to get into a habit of an update once a week.**

**~Angel**


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